Over €5000 was bid for a bottle of 1949 Rauenthaler Baiken Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese, and magnums of a 2007 Egon Müller Riesling went for over €1000 at the VDP annual auctions in Germany at the end of last month

The VDP (Association of German Quality Wine Estates) auctions, held on 26-28 September, are a barometer for the value of the top estates’ wines – both in the most recent and great older vintages.

Bidders – which include representatives from the domestic and export trade, and private customers – can buy in quantities ranging from half a bottle to a significant proportion of the total production of great Auslesen and above.

The ‘Grosser Ring Mosel-Saar-Ruwer auction was held at Trier. The two biggest bids were €1,117 each for magnums of Egon Müller’s 2007 Scharzhofberger Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel and €5,098 for a single bottle of J.J. Prüm 1959 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese.

At the Rheingau auction at Kloster Eberbach, a single bottle of Hessische Staatsweingüter 1949 Rauenthaler Baiken Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese went for €5100, and €650 per bottle was bid for Balthasar Ress 2007 Hattenheimer Nussbrunnen Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese.

At the third auction, at Kreuznach, €157 was bid for Meyer-Näkel 2006 Spätburgunder “SR”, a great Pinot Noir from the Ahr.

From Nahe a Schlossgut Diel 2003 Dorsheimer Pittermännchen Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese fetched €637 for a half-bottle.

The growing market for the great dry Rieslings of Germany was illustrated by Christmann 2004 Idig Riesling Grosses Gewächs 2004 from Pfalz which fetched €400 per double-magnum.

A Wittmann 2007 Morstein Riesling Grosses Gewächs from Rheinhessen, fetched €375 per double-magnum.

VDP sales worldwide have been spectacular in some markets. Sales of German wines above £10 have doubled in the last two years, and the £6-10 market has performed very well. At the same time, the cheaper – Liebfraumilch – end of hte market has performed very badly.

  • In this month’s Decanter magazine, in a special Riesling double feature, Andrew Catchpole and Mary Dowey make the case for German and Australian Rieslings – who makes the best in the world? Subscribe online nowWritten by Freddy Price
Explore More
Freddy Price
Freddy Price
Decanter Magazine, Wine Writer & German Expert

Freddy Price was a well-respected wine writer and an authority of German Riesling. A specialist in German wines, he became on of the founding members of the German Wine Institute’s Riesling Fellowship in 2013, alongside Hugh Johnson and Jancis Robinson MW. In the same year he published his book, A Traveller's Wine Guide to Germany, which is sold in Waterstones. He passed away on 27 June 2018 at the age of 86.